Chapter 13 – The Price of the Thread
1115 Words
Blood dripped steadily from Adrian’s arm, each drop echoing in my ribs as though my own body were spilling it. My breath came in ragged gasps, the bond yanking me into his pain until I couldn’t tell which ache was his and which was mine.
The hunter leader prowled the edge of the chamber, blade gleaming with crimson. “Do you feel it, girl? Every wound, every drop, tying you tighter. That’s the truth of your bond. Not destiny. Not love. A leash.”
“Don’t listen,” Adrian rasped. His staff trembled in his grip, but his eyes stayed locked on me—silver fire, unbroken even as his body faltered. “You fight it. You fight me. But you don’t bow to him.”
My knees shook. “Adrian, you can barely stand—”
“I’ll stand until I fall,” he said. “But you—you can’t let him win.”
The words struck me harder than any blade. Because I realized, in that instant, the hunter wasn’t trying to kill me. Not directly. He wanted me broken enough to surrender. To pull the bond so deep it tore us both apart.
Marla’s voice sliced across the chamber. She stood rigid at the far wall, hands pressed to a glowing sigil. “He’s baiting her, Adrian. If she opens the thread fully—”
“I know,” Adrian snapped, then coughed, blood flecking his lips.
My heart clenched. The sight of it made the bond flare hot, panic and fury colliding in my veins.
“Stop this,” I whispered, clutching my staff. “Stop bleeding. Stop—”
“Elena,” Adrian said, steady even in his pain. “Look at me.”
I forced my eyes up. His silver gaze caught mine, fierce and unyielding.
“You think you’re weak,” he said. “You’re not. The bond doesn’t define you. You define it.”
The hunter laughed, the sound chilling. “Beautiful words from a dying man. Let her prove it, then. Let her pour herself into the thread and see how long before it devours her.”
The pull surged inside me, stronger than ever. My wrist burned, the pale ring blazing bright enough to light the chamber. I could feel Adrian’s heartbeat slamming through me, his blood singing in my veins.
If I opened myself to it fully, maybe I could take his pain. Maybe I could heal him. Maybe I could save him.
Or maybe I’d burn out completely, and drag us both into the grave.
“Elena,” Adrian said again, softer this time, almost pleading. “Don’t give yourself away. Don’t give me away.”
Tears blurred my vision. I shook my head, torn between his command and the raw, desperate need to keep him alive.
The hunter’s blade scraped across the floor as he stepped closer. “Choose, girl. Let him die… or burn with him.”
The sigils on the walls flickered violently, their glow dimming under the weight of the hour. Dust rained from the ceiling. Midnight loomed like a shadow pressing against the chamber doors.
And the bond screamed inside me, louder than thought, louder than fear, demanding an answer.
The chamber pulsed with the weight of the bond, every beat of Adrian’s heart slamming through me like a drum. My vision blurred, my breath shallow, but one truth cut through the chaos.
I couldn’t let him fall.
I tightened my grip on the staff, ignoring his warning, ignoring the hunter’s cruel smile. For once, I didn’t resist the pull. I opened myself to it.
Light tore up my arm, bright and blinding, spilling from my wrist into the staff. The hum deepened until the floor vibrated beneath my feet. My chest ached as if I’d swallowed Adrian’s pain whole, but in that same instant, his body steadied. His stance grew stronger.
He realized what I’d done. His eyes widened. “Elena—no—”
“It’s too late,” I gasped. “We do this together.”
The hunter snarled, his black eyes gleaming. “Ah. She gives herself to it. Perfect.”
He lunged. This time, I didn’t stumble. The thread pulled me into motion, my staff sweeping to block, Adrian’s strike following in perfect rhythm. Together we forced the blade back, sparks flaring bright enough to blind.
Each strike ripped at me, pain surging through my veins. But it wasn’t just pain. It was fire, power thrumming in my bones. For the first time, I wasn’t just surviving—I was fighting.
Marla’s voice cracked through the storm. “She’ll burn out!”
Adrian gritted his teeth, eyes blazing. “Not if I can hold her!”
The hunter roared, pressing harder, his blade colliding with both our staffs. The shock rattled the chamber, dust spilling from the ceiling. The sigils along the walls flickered violently, their light faltering.
He leaned close, his voice a hiss of venom. “You feel powerful now, girl. But every heartbeat you share brings you closer to the end. Do you hear it?”
The great clock above us answered, striking the quarter hour. Eleven forty-five.
Fifteen minutes until midnight.
I staggered under the weight of it, but Adrian’s hand brushed mine, steady, grounding. “Look at me.”
I did. His silver eyes locked onto mine, fierce, desperate.
“You’re not alone in this,” he said. “The bond doesn’t own you. We own it. Together.”
The words slammed into me harder than any strike. I swallowed a sob and tightened my grip, forcing my body to keep moving.
We struck again, two against one, fire against shadow. The hunter’s grin faltered, his blade shuddering under the weight of our combined force. For the first time, he stumbled.
Marla gasped. “It’s working…”
But I knew the cost. My vision swam, my veins burning like molten metal. My body couldn’t hold this much longer. Every second inside the bond stripped something away, pulling me closer to a line I couldn’t uncross.
The hunter steadied, black eyes blazing with fury. “Then I’ll end you both at once.”
He raised his blade high, power crackling down its length. The air split with a sound like thunder.
Adrian shoved me back, taking the strike head-on. The blade slammed into his staff, sparks exploding in a storm of light. The impact threw us both to the floor, my body screaming as his pain tore through me in a wave.
The chamber shook. The sigils along the walls guttered, half extinguished.
And above us, the clock began to toll again.
Eleven fifty.
Ten minutes to midnight.
- Writer
